Chicago wheat hits 9-year peak on supply worries; soybeans, corn firm

SINGAPORE — Chicago wheat futures advanced 1.2% on Monday to their highest level in nine years as shrinking supplies in top global exporters underpinned the market.

Soybeans and corn rose for the first time in three sessions.

“There is problem in getting good-quality wheat,” said one Singapore-based trader at an international trading company.

“Uncertainty over Russian supplies and rains in Australia are casing concerns.”

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) was up 1.1% at $8.43-1/2 a bushel, as of 0410 GMT, near the session high of $8.46 a bushel — the highest since December 2012. Wheat closed 1.7% higher on Friday.

Soybeans added 0.1% to $12.64-3/4 a bushel and corn rose 0.2% to $5.71-3/4 a bushel.

The International Grains Council last week cut its forecast for 2021/22 global wheat production, underscoring concerns over dwindling stocks. Heavy rains in Australia have added to supply worries by threatening to damage what has been forecast as a bumper harvest that would help replenish export availability.

For the soybean market, slowing demand in the world’s biggest importer, China, curbed gains. China’s October soybean imports from the United States fell sharply from the previous year, customs data showed on Sunday, hit by poor demand and limited exports.

China brought in 775,331 tons of US soybeans in October, down 77% from 3.4 million tons a year earlier, according to data released from the General Administration of Customs.

Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week ended Nov. 16, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and trimmed their net short position in soybeans. —